Helical fractionating column

ABSTRACT

The helical fractionating column according to the invention falls into the field of oil separation apparatus for the petroleum refining industry, which comprises a column body ( 8 ), and is characterized in that the inside of the column body ( 8 ) is divided into three sections, the lower section being jet tray section, the middle section being packing section, and the upper section being floating valve section. And the helical fractionating column has many advantages, such as the integrity of separation, decoloration and deodorization, simple structure, convenient manufacturing and maintenance, and low investment cost as well as high product quality etc., thereby being worthy to be extended in the petroleum refining industry which uses waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The helical fractionating column according to the invention falls to the field of oil separation apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Fractionating columns include two groups in general: plate-type column and packed column. The function of the fractionating column is only to separate components, and the little impurities in the product, which brings an unconventional color and ordor to the product, need to be removed by using specific technologies and devices for decoloration and deodorization. This induces in complicated devices, and an increasing investment cost, especially in the petroleum refining process utilizing waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials. In addition, there is no up-to-grade oil product till now.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The technical solution of the invention is to provide a helical fractionating column which can remove little impurities from the product during the separation of components, and the maintenane thereof is convenient, thus raising the quality of product and overcoming shortages of those in the prior art. It is valuable to be popularized in the petroleum refining industry utilizing waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials.

The solution of the invention is that the inside of the column body 8 of the helical fractionating column is divided into three sections, the lower section being jet tray section, the middle section being packing section, and the upper section being floating valve section.

The jet tray section is jet tray 3, in the shape of plate, having many jet fins 31 separately set thereon. One end of the jet fin 31 is fixed and the other end is cocked, forming an angle with jet tray 3, commonly in 20-60°, preferably, 22.5-36°. The angles are enlarged gradually layer by layer, in same degree or not. In the invention, the enlargement is 180° for layers 1-5, with 36° enlargement every layer. The cocked angles are from 0° to 360°, based on the request of design. The jet tray 3 can be set up in multilayers based on the request of design, preferably, 1-5 layers. When the jet tray 3 is set up, every layer is turned an angle parallelly to the next layer, commonly, 20-60°, preferably, 22.5-36°. The angles are turned from 0° to 360°, clockwise or contraclockwise, based on the request of design. For a better adsorption effect, a coke adsorption layer can be paved on the upper side of the jet tray 3.

The floating valve section is a floating valve tray 6, comprising outside wall of the tray, spherical floating valves 27, and overflow weirs 11, said overflow weirs 11 are set on the two ends of floating valve tray 6, separating the floating valve tray 6 into four areas: a floating valve area in the middle, a liquid-receiving area 28 on one side, a liquid-falling area 30 on the other side, and bubble areas 29 on two ends of the floating valve area, said spherical floating valves 27 distributing equally, triangularly, within the floating valve area.

The floating valve trays 6 are set on the upper side and lower side of the packing layer 15, in multilayer, preferably, 8 layers on the upper side and one layer on the lower side.

The packing section comprises a packing layer 15 and one layer of floating valve trays 6 on each side of the packing layer 15, the packing layer 15 being one layer of regular fillers selected from metal Pall ring, metal net, metal netted corrugated pattern and metal puncture corrugated pattern.

The virtues of the helical fractionating column according to the invention, in comparison with that of the prior art, are as follows:

The lower section of the helical fractionating column is a jet tray section equipped with jet tray 3, the jet fins 31 of which turn up with the cocked angles being enlarged gradually layer by layer in a degree of 20-60°, from 0° to 180-360°. The jet tray 3 is set up in multilayers, with every layer being turned an angle parallelly to the next layer, commonly, 20-60°, so as to form a helical path. Gas-flow ascends along the helical path with turning of 180° or 360°, thus prolonging the retention period of gases in column body 8 and enhancing adsorption effect.

The middle section of the helical fractionating column is a packing section. The packing layer 15 of the packing section serves in the function of further filtering gases to remove impurities.

The upper section of the helical fractionating column is a floating valve section. The floating valve tray 6 in the floating valve section has floating valves 27 arranged triangularly, enabling gas and liquid distributed equally and providing good effects of adsorption due to the large contact area of gas and liquid. The gas-flow from the jet tray section, through a layer of floating valve, enters into the packing section to be filtered, then enters into the floating valve section to be fractionated, and raises continuously to the top of the column. The top of the column is equipped with a quencher 21, and the liquid cooled is returned to the top of the column body 8 to form a convection with the gas raising to the upper section of the column body 8. Therefore, good quality products can be obtained in high yield, with reduced formation of waste heavy oil.

The gaseous medium forms a spiral with a prolonging retention time in column body 8, thus the effect of fractionation is good.

In addition, the helical fractionating column has such advantages as the integrity of separation, decoloration and deodorization, simple structure, convenient manufacturing and maintenance, and low investment cost as well as high product quality etc., thereby being worthy to be extended in the petroleum refining industry which uses waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a section view of the structure of the helical fractionating column.

FIG. 2 is a 2-2 section view of the floating valve tray 6 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the triangular arrangement of the floating valves in the floating valve tray 6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a 4-4 section view of the jet tray 3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the jet fin 31 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a 6-6 section view of the jet fin in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) in the top in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the spray angle of the distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) in the top in FIG. 7.

FIGS. 1-8 are preferred embodiments of the fractionating column according to the invention, wherein, 1(a) Inlet of the column connecting to the cracking kettle; 2(b ₁), 4(b ₂), 5(b ₃), 7(b ₄) and 16(b ₅) hand hole; 3. jet tray; 6. floating valve tray; 8. column body; 9(c) gas phase outlet; 10(d) distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) in the top; 11. overflow weir; 12(e ₁) and 13(e ₂) outlet for kerosene; 14(f ₁) and 17(f ₂) outlet for diesel oil; 15. packing layer of metal Pall ring; 18(g) outlet for heavy oil; 19. cooling tube; 20 and 22. flange; 21. quencher; 23. valve; 24. water outlet tube; 25. water inlet tube; 26. outlet tube for light gasoline; 27. floating valve; 28. liquid-receiving area; 29. bubble area; 30. liquid-falling area; 31. jet fin; 32. spray hole.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The fractionating column of the invention is described in detail in light of drawings as follows. As shown in FIGS. 1-8, the inside of the column body 8 of the helical fractionating column is divided into three sections.

The lower section is jet tray 3 having 5 layers, in the shape of plate, with many jet fins 31 separately set thereon. One end of the jet fin 31 is fixed and the other end is cocked, forming an angle with jet tray 3, commonly in 20-60°, preferably, 36°. The angles are enlarged, equally 36° layer by layer, totally, 180° for layers 1-5. The jet tray 3 can be set up in multilayers, preferably, 5 layers. When the jet tray 3 is set up, every layer is turned an angle parallelly to the next layer, commonly, 20-60°, preferably, 36°, thus layers 1-5 form a helical path, and the Gas-flow ascends along the helical path with turning of 180°. The number of layers can be increased and the enlargement of angle every layer can be decreased, whereas the Gas-flow ascends with turning of 360°. According to the invention, the resistance of the gas-flow is low and the retention period of gases is prolonged. Moreover, the space between trays is narrowed, and the height of column is decreased to a great degree, thus the investment cost is reduced. The effect is better if the enlargement of angle cocked every layer is consistent with the angle turned parallelly every layer. For a more better effect, the jet tray 3 can be covered with a coke adsorption layer, preferably, in a thickness of 100 mm. The jet tray 3 in the lower section of column body 8 serves the function of filtration. High components adsorbed on the jet fins 31 descend slowly and distilled continuously with the increasing temperature. The gases produced ascend to form a spiral. While ascending to a higher layer, the gases are further adsorbed. The prolonged time and distance of the passing gases are beneficial to the adsorption.

The middle section of the column body is a packing section, which comprises a packing layer 15 and one layer of floating valve trays 6 on each side of the packing layer 15, the packing layer 15 being one layer of regular fillers selected from metal Pall ring, metal net, metal netted corrugated pattern and metal puncture corrugated pattern. The preferred fillers in the invention is metal Pall ring, 25×25 mm. The function of the packing layer 15 is to filter off impurities in the gases.

The upper section of the column body is a floating valve section. The floating valve tray 6 in the floating valve section comprises outside wall of the tray, spherical floating valves 27, and overflow weirs 11. The overflow weirs 11 are set on the two ends of floating valve tray 6, separating the floating valve tray 6 into four areas: a floating valve area in the middle, a liquid-receiving area 28 on one side, a liquid-falling area 30 on the other side, and bubble areas 29 on two ends of the floating valve area, said spherical floating valves 27 distributing equally, triangularly, within the floating valve area. The floating valve trays 6 are set on the upper side and lower side of the packing layer 15, in multilayer, preferably, 9 layers, with each one layer on the upper side and the lower side of the packing layer 15 and 7 layers, layers 6-12, over the packing layer 15. Liquid from the above layer enters into liquid-receiving area 28, and after passing through the floating valve area, enters into the overflow weir and the liquid-falling area, and then into the liquid-receiving area of the lower layer. The floating valve trays 6 serves the function of fractionation. The trianglar arrangement of floating valves 27 can enable gases and liquids distributed equally and the contact area of gases and liquids increased, thus providing better fractionation effects. Gases, after passing through the jet tray 3 and being adsorbed and filtered in the packing layer 15, ascend continuously and fractionated in the floating valve trays 6. In this way, an efficient fractionation is achieved.

Quencher 21 equipped on the top of the column, in the shape of a pot, comprises a water inlet tube 25, water outlet tube 24, two valves 23 and cooling tube 19 therein. The top of quencher 21 is equipped with an oil outlet tube 26 which is higher than the bottom. The bottom of quencher 21 is equipped with a U-pattern reflex tube which is connected to a distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) in the top 10(d) in column body 8. The former end of the distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) 10 is tubular, and the bottom of the distributor is equipped with several spray holes 32, in an arrangement of 3 spray holes being distributed equally within the 60° angle of the round section, 3 lines, transversely, on the distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) 10(d). The column body 8 is equipped with an inlet connecting to the cracking kettle (1(a)) and hand holes (2(b ₁), 4(b ₂), 5(b 3), 7(b ₄) and 16(b ₅)) on one side, and outlets for kerosene (12(e ₁) and 13(e ₂)) and outlets for diesel oil (14(f ₁) and 17(f ₂)) on the other side. The bottom of column body 8 is equipped with an outlet for heavy oil (18(g)) which is connected, via a flange, to a sediment pot from which the sediment is recycled to the cracking kettle. The top of the column is equipped with a quencher 21, and the liquid cooled is returned to the top of the column body 8 to form a convection with the gas raising to the upper section of the column body 8. Therefore, good quality products can be obtained in high yield, with reduced formation of waste heavy oil and lower consume of energy.

For further raising the quality of product and the yield, the column body 8 can be equipped with one or two quencher(s) identical to quencher 21 on the side(s) of the column body 8, i.e., the middle quencher and the lower quencher. The outside of the column body 8 can be equipped with a jacketed preheater using solar energy or common boilers as thermal sources.

The principle and the course are as follows: The gases from the cracking kettle entering into the bottom of column body 8 via valve 1(a)→jet tray 3 →ascending through 5 layers, turning 36° a layer, to form a spiral gas-flow →turning 180°→being filtered in packing layer 15→floating valve tray 6→ascending through 7 layers→outlet 9(c)→quencher 21; unqualified product from the bottom of quencher 21→distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) 10→column body 8; the light component→ascending and being output from outlet tube for light gasoline 26; the heavy components being output from outlets for kerosene 12(e ₁) and 13(e ₂), or outlets for diesel oil 14(f ₁) and 17(f ₂) ; the sediment entering into the sediment pot via outlet for heavy oil 18(g), then, via the tube and valve, recycling to the cracking kettle. The above is a work cycle.

The helical fractionating column according to the invention has many advantages in comparison with those in the prior art, such as the good effect of fractionation due to the prolonged retention time of the gaseous medium in the column body and the integrity of separation, decoloration and deodorization, the simple structure, convenient manufacturing and maintenance, and low investment cost as well as high product quality etc., thereby being worthy to be extended in the petroleum refining industry which uses waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials. 

1. A helical fractionating column, comprising a column body (8), characterized in that the inside of the column body (8) is divided into three sections, the lower section being jet tray section, the middle section being packing section, and the upper section being floating valve section.
 2. The helical fractionating column according to claim 1, wherein said jet tray section in the lower section is jet tray (3), said packing section in the middle section is packing layer (15) with one layer of floating valve trays (6) on each side thereof, and said floating valve section in the upper section is a floating valve tray
 6. 3. The helical fractionating column according to claim 2, wherein said jet tray (3) is in the shape of plate, with many jet fins (31) separately set thereon, one end of said jet fin (31) is fixed and the other end is cocked, forming an angle with jet tray (3), commonly in 20-60°, said angle being enlarged gradually layer by layer, from 0° to 360°.
 4. The helical fractionating column according to claim 2, wherein said jet tray (3) is in multilayer, preferably, 5 layers, said layer being turned an angle parallelly to the next layer, commonly, 20-60°, from 0° to 360°.
 5. The helical fractionating column according to claim 3, wherein said angle between jet fin (31) and jet tray (3) is enlarged preferably 22.5-36° every layer till 180°, said jet tray (3) is turned parallelly every layer, preferably, 22.5-36°, and said jet tray (3) is covered with a coke adsorption layer.
 6. The helical fractionating column according to claim 4, wherein said angle between jet fin (31) and jet tray (3) is enlarged preferably 22.5-36° every layer till 180°, said jet tray (3) is turned parallelly every layer, preferably, 22.5-36°, and said jet tray (3) is covered with a coke adsorption layer.
 7. The helical fractionating column according to claim 2, wherein said floating valve tray (6) comprises outside wall of the tray, spherical floating valves (27), and overflow weirs (11), said overflow weirs (11) being set on the two ends of floating valve tray (6), separating the floating valve tray (6) into four areas: a floating valve area in the middle, a liquid-receiving area (28) on one side, a liquid-falling area (30) on the other side, and bubble areas (29) on two ends of the floating valve area, said spherical floating valves (27) distributing equally, triangularly, within said floating valve area.
 8. The helical fractionating column according to claim 2, wherein said floating valve tray (6) is set on the upper side and lower side of the packing layer (15), in multilayer, preferably, 8 layers on the upper side and one layer on the lower side of the packing layer (15).
 9. The helical fractionating column according to claim 7, wherein said floating valve tray (6) is set on the upper side and lower side of the packing layer (15), in multilayer, preferably, 8 layers on the upper side and one layer on the lower side of the packing layer (15).
 10. The helical fractionating column according to claim 2, wherein said packing layer (15) is one layer of regular fillers selected from metal Pall ring, metal net, metal netted corrugated pattern and metal puncture corrugated pattern.
 11. The helical fractionating column according to claim 1, wherein said quencher (21), in the shape of a pot, comprises a water inlet tube (25), water outlet tube (24), two valves (23) and cooling tube (19), said quencher (21) is equipped on the top with an oil outlet tube (26) which is higher than the bottom, and said quencher (21) is equipped on the bottom with a U-pattern reflex tube which is connected to a distributor for the returned liquid (reflex) in the top (10) of column body
 8. 12. The helical fractionating column according to claim 1, wherein said column body 8 is equipped with an inlet connecting to the cracking kettle (1) on one side, outlets for kerosene (12) and (13) and outlets for diesel oil (14) and (17) on the other side, and an outlet for heavy oil (18) on the bottom, said outlet for heavy oil (18) is connected, via a flange, to a sediment pot, therefrom the sediment is recycled to the cracking kettle.
 13. The helical fractionating column according to claim 11, wherein said column body 8 is equipped with an inlet connecting to the cracking kettle (1) on one side, outlets for kerosene (12) and (13) and outlets for diesel oil (14) and (17) on the other side, and an outlet for heavy oil (18) on the bottom, said outlet for heavy oil (18) is connected, via a flange, to a sediment pot, therefrom the sediment is recycled to the cracking kettle. 